5 steps to perfect pasta sauce

If you’re looking for a simple meal that won’t require too much time but will still convey home-cooked effort, then this pasta sauce recipe is perfect for you. You’ll need about an hour to cook the sauce to perfection, and you’ll also want to allow enough time for the pasta itself to boil and be drained. When done, simply serve the sauce over your choice of noodles and enjoy. Sound interesting? Just follow these five simple steps:

Create a base
Pour two to three ounces of extra-virgin olive oil into a wok or large saucepan. Chop half of a red or white onion into small pieces and saute them along with five cloves of minced garlic until the onion pieces turn translucent. Typically, this takes about 10 minutes on low heat. While this is happening, brown half a pound of thinly sliced sweet Italian sausage in a small saucepan (optional).

Begin the sauce
Once the onions have begun to look clear, you’ll want to move on to actually starting the sauce itself. Pour a six-ounce can of tomato paste into your large saucepan or wok, followed immediately by 18-24 ounces of thinly diced tomatoes. Take the tomato paste can, once empty, and fill it with water. Add this to the mix to allow the sauce to thin. Cover the saucepan with a lid and continue to cook on low heat.

Season
At this point you’ll want to season the sauce. We recommend using a handful of freshly chopped basil, a pinch of salt and pepper and a tablespoon of granulated sugar. Of course, it’s your creation, so feel free to take some creative liberties during this step of the process. Onion powder, garlic powder and oregano are other favorites. For those who like the spice of life, a touch of cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes never hurt, either.

Transfer the meat
If you’ve elected to include meat in your sauce, now would be the time to move it from the browning pan into the saucepan. Be slightly careful with this process, as allowing too much oil to spill from the browning pan into the sauce may change the composition of the final product. If necessary, you may want to drain some of the residual oils from the browning pan prior to transferring the meat.

Simmer
The rest of this project is relatively simple. Simmer the sauce on low to medium heat with the saucepan covered, stirring occasionally and tasting as you see fit. Thirty more minutes on the stovetop should be ample time, though continuing to simmer on low heat won’t burn the sauce and may release more flavor. Serve over hot pasta to you and yours.